Animal welfare: The welfare of pigs
National Legislation
The welfare of pigs is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 under which it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal. The Act also contains a Duty of Care to animals - this means that anyone responsible for an animal must take reasonable steps to make sure the animal’s needs are met. Therefore a person has to look after an animal’s welfare as well as ensure that it does not suffer.
These general requirements in the Animal Welfare Act 2006 are supplemented by detailed requirements set out in the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007 No 2078). Schedule 8 of these Regulations covers pigs and sets down detailed requirements for their husbandry on topics such as accommodation, inspection, feed and water and environmental enrichment.
Further information on the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 is available.
Similar legislation exists in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For further information on animal welfare in these areas please contact the appropriate devolved administration.
Welfare code
There is a Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of pigs, which contains advice for stock-keepers on best pig husbandry practice. The existing Code continues to apply under the new Animal Welfare Act, but with the introduction of the Act and the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007, references to previous legislation in the code should be checked before stock-keepers rely on these, although the vast majority of requirements remain the same.
The welfare code for pigs (PDF 125 KB) is available for download.
Enforcement
Animal Health carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the legislation and the welfare codes are being followed. In addition to spot checks and planned visits, Animal Health urgently follows up all complaints and allegations of poor welfare on specific farms. While Animal Health can require farmers to make satisfactory improvements where minor transgressions are found, if farmers fail to follow advice or animal suffering is found, prosecution action is taken, Animal Health works closely in co-operation with local authorities and other organisations such as the RSPCA.
Europe
Council Directive 2001/88/EC and Commission Directive 2001/93/EC, which were adopted in October 2001 amend Directive 91/630/EC which lays down minimum standards for the welfare of pigs. The Directives came into effect in all Member States on 1 January 2003.
Previously, they were implemented in England through the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003 No. 299) which came into force on 14 February 2003. On 1st October 2007 these Regulations were replaced by the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The content of the new Regulations is very similar to the previous Regulations.
The key provisions of the 2001 Directives on pig welfare are:
- All pigs must have permanent access to manipulable materials;
- A ban on close-confinement stalls for sows and gilts across the EU from 1 January 2013 (see below);
- Minimum space allowances for sows and gilts; and
- New training requirements for stock-keepers
Sow stalls
Close-confinement stalls for breeding sows have been banned in the UK since 1 January 1999. One of the main provisions of EU Directive 2001/88/EC is an EU-wide ban on sow stalls to come fully into force by 1 January 2013.
While we are pleased that the EU has banned sow stalls we are, nevertheless, disappointed at the length of the phase out period and that farmers in other Member States will be able to keep sows in close-confinement stalls for the first four weeks after insemination. However, the overall ban on sow stalls, together with the other welfare improvements in the Directive represent a major advance in pig welfare across the European Union, and help to level the playing field in Europe.
Farrowing crates
Unlike in other livestock species, sows can weigh a hundred times more than their piglets and can crush them without noticing - crushing is by far the largest cause of piglet mortality. It is equally important to protect the welfare of the piglets as that of the sow, which is why farrowing crates are often used.
Nevertheless, we should prefer if possible, to avoid the close-confinement of all sows. This is why we are funding research to develop and test commercially viable farrowing systems that do not closely confine the sow, but provide adequate protection to piglets.
Some such alternative systems seem promising in an experimental environment, but in others, piglet mortality has been unacceptably high. It remains the case that results need to be replicated consistently under commercial conditions. As yet, the risk of piglet mortality in alternative farrowing systems remains unacceptably high.
Advice for Farmers
Defra funds ADAS, an agricultural consultancy, to run campaigns to inform farmers about good welfare practices. Details of current campaigns are available from our Advisory Programme for Farmers page.
Further information
- Pig welfare code (PDF 125 KB)
See also:
- The Farm Animal Welfare Council report on the Welfare of Pigs Kept Outdoors.
- Pigs and pig meat - Information on the 'farming' pages of the Defra website.
- Pig identification and tracing
Page last modified:
29 January, 2009
Page published: 5 August 2002